The City of Bridges Leads To Retirement And Back

SportsGrid Staff 01:07 pm, June 20th, 2016

The year was 2012. Four years after one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time, a blindside firing paves the way for a path to greatness. HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" returns tomorrow June 21st at 10 p.m., with a story on the unexpected firing of a beloved coach. From Temple University, to a champion in Pittsburgh, and now head coach in Arizona, Bruce Arians, aged 63, recalls his rude awakening with "Real Sports" correspondent Andrea Kremer.

Kremer sat down with Bruce, as well as his wife Chris, to further investigate the truth behind the abrupt end to a storied career, or so we thought. Arians goes in depth regarding the phone call he received from Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin and his grief on not receiving a new contract. With that, Bruce decided to call it a career and leave the game of football. However, he was contacted by the Indianapolis Colts and later became their offensive coordinator. After head coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with Leukemia, Arian's became interim head coach, leading them to a 9-3 record and the postseason. After the season, he was named the "AP Coach of the Year", becoming the first interim coach to receive the award.

As a die hard Pittsburgh fan, I wish they renewed his contract. After Super Bowl 43, they made the playoffs twice under Arians' offense, and even won the division. As much as I love Todd Haley's new elite offense, I can't help but wonder what kind of team we would be if Arians' was coaching the likes of Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell. Never the less, if Bruce Arians never left Pittsburgh, he wouldn't be the coach or even the person he is today. As football season quickly approaches, the ageless wonder of a coach still has potential to achieve success in the future.